Appearing on reality TV is not for shrinking violets. It’s competitive, highly public and might result in the enumeration of your shortcomings to an audience of millions.
Perhaps that’s why Taylor McPherson, ’22 BKin, and Katie Mulkay, ’23 BEd, are so good at it.
Taylor and Katie met on the University of Alberta’s Pandas wrestling team in 2018, competing together and cheering each other on for five years, and taking home a National Championship in 2023. In their latest challenge, the duo and self-proclaimed best friends wrapped up a winning appearance on the 10th season of The Amazing Race Canada — where they became the second all-female team in the show’s history to finish in first place. They made it across Canada and all the way to the finish line while spreading their official motto: “Strong is beautiful.”
The experience taught them a thing or two about teamwork. Here are five lessons they learned about working together while competing in the race of a lifetime.
1: Pick the right partner
When a social media post sparked Taylor’s interest in applying for the show, she immediately knew who should be her partner.
“We’ve been wrestling together for so long that I knew it would work,” says Taylor. “Katie is very bubbly and outgoing; I’m quieter. We know how to work together — and that we can stand each other for long periods of time.”
“When Taylor asked, I said ‘Of course I’ll drop everything and go on this adventure with you,’” says Katie. “I had no hesitation.”
2: Follow your principles
Each episode of The Amazing Race Canada features a “roadblock” segment where one member of each team must overcome a challenge on their own. Teams are free to select the member they think has the best chance, but they only get a vague hint about the challenge before they choose.
Katie and Taylor decided before shooting began that they would simply alternate for each roadblock, no matter what. Sticking to this system helped them build and reinforce trust in each other.
“You can really only guess based on the clue,” says Katie. “And the clues don’t really tell you anything, so we decided to just go with the flow.”
3: Learn from your competitors
Taylor and Katie have eagerly tuned into each episode as it airs — and not only to see how the producers edited their footage. Contact with their competitors during filming was rare, so they wanted to see how other teams tackled the same challenges they did.
“It was really surprising to see some people struggle in places where we didn’t,” says Taylor.
In Penticton, B.C., the teams had to process grapes for wine-making. They stomped the grapes barefoot and then had to improvise a filter to separate the juice and the pulp. Katie and Taylor wound up using their hands. Not all of their competitors did the same.
“Julia and Olivia strained the juice with their socks!” says Taylor. “It’s not the most sanitary, but it saved them so much time. I wish we thought of that!”
4: Amid uncertainty, focus on what’s in front of you
A cloud of unknowns envelops teams in the race. They don’t know what challenges await. They don’t know whether their competitors are ahead or behind. They do know that their reactions will be recorded.
In moments of stress, Taylor and Katie focused on the task in front of them.
“The biggest thing was staying level-headed,” says Taylor. “Not dwelling on what’s to come or your position in the field. Get through this challenge. Being present in the moment was really important.”
This was especially useful in a challenge filmed near Regina, Sask. The team had to hunt through a grain hopper filled with oats for an unknown treasure that turned out to be a plastic toy. It wound up taking over two hours.
5: Don’t count yourself out too soon
Katie and Taylor ran into difficulty in Episode 7, where they were the last team to reach the mat the show uses as a finish line.
“The last team to hit the mat is eliminated,” says Katie. “Usually.”
After arriving at the mat, the teams learned that the section of racing they’d done was a non-elimination leg. There are two of these per season, determined by the organizers in advance but not known to the racers. Katie and Taylor survived to race another day.
“Having that moment was amazing,” says Taylor. And it allowed them to, ultimately, claim their victory in Edmonton, their hometown.
We at New Trail welcome your comments. Robust debate and criticism are encouraged, provided it is respectful. We reserve the right to reject comments, images or links that attack ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation; that include offensive language, threats, spam; are fraudulent or defamatory; infringe on copyright or trademarks; and that just generally aren’t very nice. Discussion is monitored and violation of these guidelines will result in comments being disabled.